Beyond the Gridiron: Ashland Football Back on the Radar

The last time the Ashland football team had a winning record dates back to the 2009 season.

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"Ashland hasn't had that many good years of football, but we're finally bringing it back," said senior running back and cornerback Zach Coffland.

This season the Oredockers have made their presence known when it comes to Friday nights. The same can be said about second year head coach Travis Larson.

Ashland Oredockers

WDIO/Chelsie Brown

"We love the intensity and he pushes us hard and past our limits, but we like it. We look forward to it," said senior defensive end Jame Mayotte about Coach Larson.

Larson is an Ashland graduate who has spent nearly a decade with the program and started out coaching the freshman team. Since taking over the varsity squad, the Oredockers have been able to build off of last season's 3-6 record, improving to 7-1 with one regular season game left on their schedule. The team's improvement is an example of Larson's impact on the program, however, he is quick to credit his players, especially his 16 seniors.

"We talk about this all the time as coaches, but they're great kids to coach," said Larson. "Easy kids to coach because they work really hard and they're great leaders."

The team's motto this season is that toughness wins games. The Oredockers really grasped the concept of the saying following their week one and only loss on the season to Northwestern.

"I'd say we into that game doubting ourselves. After, when we came out of that game, we really believed that we are better and we are actually something," said Coffland.

"I think it gave us confidence," added Larson. "Even though it was a loss, we looked at that and said 'hey we're a good football team' and we established that every week."

Since then, the Oredockers have focused their efforts on staying consistent. By getting up after every good or bad snap is how they grow their mental and physical toughness and what they plan to use to help finish out the regular season.

Ashland (7-1) is set to host Medford (5-3) to close out the regular season. Kickoff is set for 7 P.M.